- 1st half 2006
A glimpse into the varied articles that have cited JDC's work around the world. To obtain a story's full text, please refer to the news source attributed.
Jewish group looks to youth to revive fading culture in Balkans
Associated Press– June 16 2006
… The effort overseen by an international Jewish group [JDC] is one of many campaigns to assist struggling Jewish communities in the former Eastern bloc and other nations such as Greece and Turkey. But the style of this program sets a new course by aiming at a specific demographic young and influential professionals, or as one participant described it, "yuppies with yarmulkes."…It was a mix of Spring Break, spiritual retreat, cultural immersion and high-energy networking….
'Our elderly are mistreated, too'
Jerusalem Post– June 15 2006
Under the banner of the first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, being marked worldwide on Thursday, local organizations working with the elderly hope to raise awareness to the problem of mistreatment and neglect among the older generation…. "In a study on the subject published a year and a half ago we really surprised ourselves. We used to think of Israeli society as being one that respects and cares for the elderly," said Doron. "However, what we found was that we are very similar to other countries." The survey conducted by JDC Eshel, the association for the planning and development of services for the aged in Israel, the National Insurance Institution (NII) and the University of Haifa's faculty of social welfare and health studies found that of the 1,045 elderly people questioned, at least 18.4 percent felt they had been the victim of physical, sexual or verbal abuse or they had suffered an infringement on their personal freedom or been taken advantage of financially in the year proceeding the study.
Pesach Project Creates Ties Between Ukrainian, Georgetown Jewish Communities
Hillel– May 1 2006
… For a week, seven of my peers from Georgetown University's Hillel and I teamed up with 40 students from Kharkov Hillel to bring Passover to Jews of all ages throughout the city. Much of our time was spent visiting the homes of the Jewish elderly in Kharkov who receive aid from Hesed, a Jewish welfare agency funded by the JDC. Many of the elderly couples we visited live on the 10th story of run-down apartment buildings with non-working elevators, and volunteers from Hesed are their only contact with the outside world…
Frontier Pesach
JTA– April 28 2006
… Today, as throughout the former Soviet Union and the once-Communist countries of Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan is experiencing a Jewish revival. But it is smaller, and later in developing, than in many of the other Jewish communities that first experienced freedom of religion a decade and a half ago…I led the seder under the auspices of the JDC… I attended a Sunday afternoon Passover meal-celebration sponsored by Chesed in Karaganda’s largest café. I traded Pesach stories with a few Jewish retirees at a meal hosted by one pensioner couple as part of the "Warm House" program that offers the elderly companionship and moral support…
A ‘Promise’ Kept: UJC Initiative will Restore Services for Elderly Jews in FSU to Past Level
JTA– April 28 2006
… With decreasing discretionary funds to spend on welfare programs in the former Soviet Union since the early 1990s, the JDC, principal supporter of the 3,000 Chesed organizations across the now-independent republics, two years ago instituted a "two-tier" system of allocations, cutting the package of services available to elderly Jews considered "non-Nazi victims," those not directly persecuted or from areas under Nazi control… Operation Promise, a three-year, $160 million fundraising initiative on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry and Jews in the FSU. The partners in Operation Promise, including the Jewish Agency, agreed to earmark the first $30 million for the Chesed-run programs, Schwager said…
New Interagency Task Force on Arab Israelis
JTA– April 28 2006
A coalition of American Jewish leaders initiated a task force on Israeli-Arab issues. The seven founders hailed from the Anti-Defamation League, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, UJA-Federation of New York, New Israel Fund, Alfred and Hanna Fromm Fund, and Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies…Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, cited the issue not only as a political, socioeconomic and moral one, but also as a security dilemma…
Columbia/Barnard a Cappella Group Shares Songs, Spirit with Ukrainian Jewish Community
Hillel – April 3 2006
Spring Break: Ukraine" may never make the MTV programming line-up, but for 13 students from Columbia University and Barnard College, it was a must-see – and must-do – experience. These students, members of Columbia/Barnard Hillel's Pizmon a cappella group, recently spent 10 days in the former Soviet republic for a spring break focused on music rather than mai tais… Their tour also included visits to senior centers run by the JDC, centers for at-risk children and homes of local Jewish residents, where their music provided a cultural bridge between their vastly different backgrounds…
Columbia/Barnard A Cappella Group Shares Songs, Spirit with Ukrainian Jewish Community
HIllel – April 3 2006
Spring Break: Ukraine" may never make the MTV programming line-up, but for 13 students from Columbia University and Barnard College, it was a must-see – and must-do – experience. These students, members of Columbia/Barnard Hillel's Pizmon a cappella group, recently spent 10 days in the former Soviet republic for a spring break focused on music rather than mai tais… Their tour also included visits to senior centers run by the JDC, centers for at-risk children and homes of local Jewish residents, where their music provided a cultural bridge between their vastly different backgrounds…
Delila Herbsts Story
Combined Jewish Philanthropies – March 31 2006
…"There is a difference between being poor and becoming poor," said Ricardo Schusterman, of JDC’s Buenos Aires office. "We realized it was not enough to focus on basic welfare needs. We needed to upgrade their opportunity to get back to the labor market…" "One works hard to prepare for progress, but nobody works to prepare for an endless fall," Herbst said. "It’s a question of fighting. If you let your arms hang, you’ve lost."
Situation Improves for Argentine Jews
The Jewish Journal of Greater LA – March 31 2006
…It’s also Telerman’s fate to be the first Jewish mayor of this city with the world’s largest Spanish-speaking Jewish population…Viviana Bendersky, who manages a Buenos Aires daycare center for the JDC said things have gotten a little better: "The most urgent need is work. The second is housing. We have a lot of old people who are living in terrible boarding houses. We have large families living all in one room."
US opens first children's park in Trincomalee
newkerala.com – March 24 2006
The US Friday gave the children of Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka a safe new place to play and help put the trauma of tsunami behind by opening a play park for kids… The $2 million project is funded by USAID, the JDC and the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. It is being implemented by Sarvodaya, the largest national NGO in Sri Lanka.
Tourists’ bodies returned from Chile
JTA – March 24 2006
The bodies of 12 American who died on a B’nai B’rith trip when their bus plunged down a cliff in Chile were returned to the United States… A number of Jewish organizations, including Chabad, B’nai B’rith International, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, sent representatives to the scene to help the families and survivors.
Jewish Group Thanked For Help In Aceh
Paras Indonesia – January 25 2006
…mayor of Banda Aceh city and a regional official presented awards to the JDC for its tsunami relief efforts… "We are in Indonesia first and foremost to help people who suffered from the tsunami, but it’s also an opportunity to build bridges of friendship and respect between Muslims and Jews," he [Michael Schneider] was quoted as saying by JTA…"
Harlem job-prep nonprofit expands to Israel
Crain's New York Business – January 25 2006
… The 22-year old organization, which has a branch in London and 20 cities across the U.S., was asked to come to Israel by the JDC. Unemployment in that country has risen to 11%, with many segments of the population facing job discrimination. Strive will target communities there that suffer from especially high joblessness, including Israeli Arabs, Hassidic men, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants…
Proposed Latvian Restitution Law Would Return Jewish Properties
CJP – January 22 2006
…A proposed Latvian law would return some 200 properties to the country's Jewish community -- and could go a long way toward making the community self-sufficient… "The Jewish community in Latvia has been on its way to self-sufficiency. If the restitution process goes as planned, the community will be able to fully support itself and also help other Jewish communities," said Andres Spokoiny, the Paris-based JDC country director for the Baltic states.
The Human Spirit: Sparks in Africa
Jerusalem Post – January 19 2006
...Dr. Rick Hodes came to Ethiopia two decades ago after a childhood on Long Island, a university education in Vermont, four years in Alaska, and medical school in Rochester and Baltimore. He'd specialized in internal medicine, and landed a teaching job in Addis Ababa on a Fulbright scholarship. When the Jews of Ethiopia began their exodus to Israel, he returned to work for the JDC, and continues to care for Ethiopian Jews and Falash Mura…
Christian Donors Aid Needy Russian Jews
Forward – January 13 2006
…The International Fellowship sent $5 million to the JDC last year for its work feeding elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union… This 5 million is almost a quarter of the money we have for non-Nazi victims," Schwager said. "The fact that he keeps increasing it year after year is a miracle."
Eastern European Jewry awakens
Haaretz – January 11 2006
…The most prominent phenomenon among Jews following the fall of Communism and the opening of the gates in Eastern European countries is the "coming out of the closet" and the joining in community activity. In a process that may be described as a "Jewish Marshall Plan" - similar to the aid that the U.S. funneled to Western Europe after World War II - Jewish organizations, primarily the JDC, and several philanthropic foundations led by the Lauder Foundation allocated aid to communities in Eastern Europe in the form of material and human resources…
In Budapest, hip places emerge that cater to city’s young Jews
JTA – January 10 2006
…For young Jews in the Hungarian capital, a cluster of hip new pubs and cafes forms a network of downtown venues that definitely are the right places to hang out… "It’s all very cool and informal; grassroots reality rather than programmed activity," says Mircea Cernov, a deputy director of the JDC Budapest office....
From Poland to Serbia, Young Jews Help Rebuild Shattered Communities
CJP – January 2 2006
…Being a Jew in this region is a decision, not a passive fact. You have to struggle to revive something and you have to be actively Jewish, you cannot take it for granted like in America," said Karina Sokolowska, vice director of the JDC office in Warsaw. Sixteen years after the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, Jewish communities nearly destroyed by Nazism, communism and emigration are still tiny…"For the first time, we have young adults in this country who are normal about being Jewish," Sokolowska said.
Jewish group looks to youth to revive fading culture in Balkans
Associated Press– June 16 2006
… The effort overseen by an international Jewish group [JDC] is one of many campaigns to assist struggling Jewish communities in the former Eastern bloc and other nations such as Greece and Turkey. But the style of this program sets a new course by aiming at a specific demographic young and influential professionals, or as one participant described it, "yuppies with yarmulkes."…It was a mix of Spring Break, spiritual retreat, cultural immersion and high-energy networking….
'Our elderly are mistreated, too'
Jerusalem Post– June 15 2006
Under the banner of the first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, being marked worldwide on Thursday, local organizations working with the elderly hope to raise awareness to the problem of mistreatment and neglect among the older generation…. "In a study on the subject published a year and a half ago we really surprised ourselves. We used to think of Israeli society as being one that respects and cares for the elderly," said Doron. "However, what we found was that we are very similar to other countries." The survey conducted by JDC Eshel, the association for the planning and development of services for the aged in Israel, the National Insurance Institution (NII) and the University of Haifa's faculty of social welfare and health studies found that of the 1,045 elderly people questioned, at least 18.4 percent felt they had been the victim of physical, sexual or verbal abuse or they had suffered an infringement on their personal freedom or been taken advantage of financially in the year proceeding the study.
Pesach Project Creates Ties Between Ukrainian, Georgetown Jewish Communities
Hillel– May 1 2006
… For a week, seven of my peers from Georgetown University's Hillel and I teamed up with 40 students from Kharkov Hillel to bring Passover to Jews of all ages throughout the city. Much of our time was spent visiting the homes of the Jewish elderly in Kharkov who receive aid from Hesed, a Jewish welfare agency funded by the JDC. Many of the elderly couples we visited live on the 10th story of run-down apartment buildings with non-working elevators, and volunteers from Hesed are their only contact with the outside world…
Frontier Pesach
JTA– April 28 2006
… Today, as throughout the former Soviet Union and the once-Communist countries of Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan is experiencing a Jewish revival. But it is smaller, and later in developing, than in many of the other Jewish communities that first experienced freedom of religion a decade and a half ago…I led the seder under the auspices of the JDC… I attended a Sunday afternoon Passover meal-celebration sponsored by Chesed in Karaganda’s largest café. I traded Pesach stories with a few Jewish retirees at a meal hosted by one pensioner couple as part of the "Warm House" program that offers the elderly companionship and moral support…
A ‘Promise’ Kept: UJC Initiative will Restore Services for Elderly Jews in FSU to Past Level
JTA– April 28 2006
… With decreasing discretionary funds to spend on welfare programs in the former Soviet Union since the early 1990s, the JDC, principal supporter of the 3,000 Chesed organizations across the now-independent republics, two years ago instituted a "two-tier" system of allocations, cutting the package of services available to elderly Jews considered "non-Nazi victims," those not directly persecuted or from areas under Nazi control… Operation Promise, a three-year, $160 million fundraising initiative on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry and Jews in the FSU. The partners in Operation Promise, including the Jewish Agency, agreed to earmark the first $30 million for the Chesed-run programs, Schwager said…
New Interagency Task Force on Arab Israelis
JTA– April 28 2006
A coalition of American Jewish leaders initiated a task force on Israeli-Arab issues. The seven founders hailed from the Anti-Defamation League, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, UJA-Federation of New York, New Israel Fund, Alfred and Hanna Fromm Fund, and Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies…Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, cited the issue not only as a political, socioeconomic and moral one, but also as a security dilemma…
Columbia/Barnard a Cappella Group Shares Songs, Spirit with Ukrainian Jewish Community
Hillel – April 3 2006
Spring Break: Ukraine" may never make the MTV programming line-up, but for 13 students from Columbia University and Barnard College, it was a must-see – and must-do – experience. These students, members of Columbia/Barnard Hillel's Pizmon a cappella group, recently spent 10 days in the former Soviet republic for a spring break focused on music rather than mai tais… Their tour also included visits to senior centers run by the JDC, centers for at-risk children and homes of local Jewish residents, where their music provided a cultural bridge between their vastly different backgrounds…
Columbia/Barnard A Cappella Group Shares Songs, Spirit with Ukrainian Jewish Community
HIllel – April 3 2006
Spring Break: Ukraine" may never make the MTV programming line-up, but for 13 students from Columbia University and Barnard College, it was a must-see – and must-do – experience. These students, members of Columbia/Barnard Hillel's Pizmon a cappella group, recently spent 10 days in the former Soviet republic for a spring break focused on music rather than mai tais… Their tour also included visits to senior centers run by the JDC, centers for at-risk children and homes of local Jewish residents, where their music provided a cultural bridge between their vastly different backgrounds…
Delila Herbsts Story
Combined Jewish Philanthropies – March 31 2006
…"There is a difference between being poor and becoming poor," said Ricardo Schusterman, of JDC’s Buenos Aires office. "We realized it was not enough to focus on basic welfare needs. We needed to upgrade their opportunity to get back to the labor market…" "One works hard to prepare for progress, but nobody works to prepare for an endless fall," Herbst said. "It’s a question of fighting. If you let your arms hang, you’ve lost."
Situation Improves for Argentine Jews
The Jewish Journal of Greater LA – March 31 2006
…It’s also Telerman’s fate to be the first Jewish mayor of this city with the world’s largest Spanish-speaking Jewish population…Viviana Bendersky, who manages a Buenos Aires daycare center for the JDC said things have gotten a little better: "The most urgent need is work. The second is housing. We have a lot of old people who are living in terrible boarding houses. We have large families living all in one room."
US opens first children's park in Trincomalee
newkerala.com – March 24 2006
The US Friday gave the children of Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka a safe new place to play and help put the trauma of tsunami behind by opening a play park for kids… The $2 million project is funded by USAID, the JDC and the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. It is being implemented by Sarvodaya, the largest national NGO in Sri Lanka.
Tourists’ bodies returned from Chile
JTA – March 24 2006
The bodies of 12 American who died on a B’nai B’rith trip when their bus plunged down a cliff in Chile were returned to the United States… A number of Jewish organizations, including Chabad, B’nai B’rith International, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, sent representatives to the scene to help the families and survivors.
Jewish Group Thanked For Help In Aceh
Paras Indonesia – January 25 2006
…mayor of Banda Aceh city and a regional official presented awards to the JDC for its tsunami relief efforts… "We are in Indonesia first and foremost to help people who suffered from the tsunami, but it’s also an opportunity to build bridges of friendship and respect between Muslims and Jews," he [Michael Schneider] was quoted as saying by JTA…"
Harlem job-prep nonprofit expands to Israel
Crain's New York Business – January 25 2006
… The 22-year old organization, which has a branch in London and 20 cities across the U.S., was asked to come to Israel by the JDC. Unemployment in that country has risen to 11%, with many segments of the population facing job discrimination. Strive will target communities there that suffer from especially high joblessness, including Israeli Arabs, Hassidic men, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants…
Proposed Latvian Restitution Law Would Return Jewish Properties
CJP – January 22 2006
…A proposed Latvian law would return some 200 properties to the country's Jewish community -- and could go a long way toward making the community self-sufficient… "The Jewish community in Latvia has been on its way to self-sufficiency. If the restitution process goes as planned, the community will be able to fully support itself and also help other Jewish communities," said Andres Spokoiny, the Paris-based JDC country director for the Baltic states.
The Human Spirit: Sparks in Africa
Jerusalem Post – January 19 2006
...Dr. Rick Hodes came to Ethiopia two decades ago after a childhood on Long Island, a university education in Vermont, four years in Alaska, and medical school in Rochester and Baltimore. He'd specialized in internal medicine, and landed a teaching job in Addis Ababa on a Fulbright scholarship. When the Jews of Ethiopia began their exodus to Israel, he returned to work for the JDC, and continues to care for Ethiopian Jews and Falash Mura…
Christian Donors Aid Needy Russian Jews
Forward – January 13 2006
…The International Fellowship sent $5 million to the JDC last year for its work feeding elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union… This 5 million is almost a quarter of the money we have for non-Nazi victims," Schwager said. "The fact that he keeps increasing it year after year is a miracle."
Eastern European Jewry awakens
Haaretz – January 11 2006
…The most prominent phenomenon among Jews following the fall of Communism and the opening of the gates in Eastern European countries is the "coming out of the closet" and the joining in community activity. In a process that may be described as a "Jewish Marshall Plan" - similar to the aid that the U.S. funneled to Western Europe after World War II - Jewish organizations, primarily the JDC, and several philanthropic foundations led by the Lauder Foundation allocated aid to communities in Eastern Europe in the form of material and human resources…
In Budapest, hip places emerge that cater to city’s young Jews
JTA – January 10 2006
…For young Jews in the Hungarian capital, a cluster of hip new pubs and cafes forms a network of downtown venues that definitely are the right places to hang out… "It’s all very cool and informal; grassroots reality rather than programmed activity," says Mircea Cernov, a deputy director of the JDC Budapest office....
From Poland to Serbia, Young Jews Help Rebuild Shattered Communities
CJP – January 2 2006
…Being a Jew in this region is a decision, not a passive fact. You have to struggle to revive something and you have to be actively Jewish, you cannot take it for granted like in America," said Karina Sokolowska, vice director of the JDC office in Warsaw. Sixteen years after the end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, Jewish communities nearly destroyed by Nazism, communism and emigration are still tiny…"For the first time, we have young adults in this country who are normal about being Jewish," Sokolowska said.
